Pieces

(1982) **

The tagline for this film is, “It’s exactly what you think it is!” And you know what? The tagline perfectly captures the spirit of this film. In the prologue a mother catches her son making a jigsaw puzzle of a pinup girl. The mother freaks out, throws the puzzle across the room, and screams at him, “You’re just like your father!” The little boy leaves the room, comes back with an axe and promptly hacks her to death. These are the days before forensic evidence would’ve easily solved this crime so the police assume that the boy couldn’t have committed this atrocity. Fast-forward 40 years in the future. We cut to a college campus where an oblivious co-ed skateboards into a windowpane. Apparently the sight of the shards of glass (resembling puzzle pieces maybe?) is what triggers the killer’s rampage. For the rest of the film be are shown scenes of the killer’s hands (in large, black, latex gloves) slowing putting together his childhood puzzle. Each time he completes a section of the puzzle (e.g., the head, the arms, the torso, etc), he goes and kills a woman who possesses the best of that particular body part. Slowly he assembles his “perfect” dream girl. The killer is shrouded in darkness but it’s not too hard to figure out who the killer is (although I must admit that I was initially on the wrong trail). The film is pretty bad. It’s only saving graces are a cool Goblin-rip off soundtrack and plenty, PLENTY of T&A. Every single coed is killed while in some state of undress.